Canada’s Six Nations Asserting Autonomy by Drafting Its Own Cannabis Laws

Canada’s Six Nations is drafting its own laws regulating the legalization of cannabis, asserting autonomy to govern its own affairs. Six Nations is the most populous of Canada’s sovereign indigenous states known as the First Nations.

As of 2017, the Six Nations had more than 27,000 members. Nearly 13,000 of the members live on the Six Nations of the Grand River reservation in the province of Ontario. Six Nations was formed when the Mohawk, Oneida, Cayuga, Seneca, Onondaga, and Tuscarora nations unified in the 18th Century.

Chief Ava Hill of the Six Nations elected council said that they were taking responsibility for cannabis regulation in the nation’s territory.

“Our main concern is the health and safety of our community, particularly the young people,” Hill said.

Hill also said that cannabis regulation gives the Six Nations an opportunity to be more financially self-sufficient.

“We have to start developing our own source revenue,” said Hill. “If this is one avenue to do that, that’s one avenue we want to explore.”

Cannabis Legalization Coming To Canada Soon

Cannabis is set to be legalized nationwide in Canada in October of this year after the passage of Bill C-45 this summer. But leaders of indigenous groups